Differentiation in Primary Schools

Author(s): Brian McGarvey, Stuart Marriott, Valerie Morgan, Lesley Abbott
Document Type: Research Paper
Year: 1996
Title of Publication: DENI Research Report Series No 1
Publisher: Department of Education Northern Ireland
Place of Publication: Bangor
Subject Area(s): Education, Attainment Levels

Abbreviations: CCMS - Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, ELB - Education Library Board

Background to the Research

  • Differentiation is defined as 'the process whereby an attempt is made to provide learning experiences which are matched to the needs, capabilities and previous learning of individual pupils'. This research was commissioned to investigate the existing provision of differentiated learning in primary schools.

Research Approach

  • The research was conducted in four phases:
    • This exploratory phase identified major issues in differentiation through open ended interviews with staff of 14 primary schools drawn from both controlled and maintained school and Advisers from the ELB, and an Education Officer from the CCMS.
    • The second phase comprised 4 survey questionnaires, sent to a random sample of schools stratified to take into account management type, geographic location, size and ELB. Questionnaire samples comprised of 217 principals, 150 Subject Coordinators, 400 Teachers and 95 Curriculum Support Staff.
    • The third phase comprised case studies, including observation and informal interviews, which were carried out in 20 classes from 7 schools.
    • The fourth stage involved semi-structured interviews focusing upon differentiation with 6 teacher educators, representing the Teacher Training Colleges and the Faculty of Education in the University of Ulster and 4 third year student teachers.

Main Findings

  • School subject coordinators recommended the use of a range of differentiation techniques including whole class teaching, group work and individual attention.

  • Few schools had a specific, whole school policy on differentiation, although the majority of Principals said it was implicit in all subject planning.

  • The largest proportion of teachers said they made provision for a wide range of pupil attainment, a substantial minority made provision for lower and higher attainers, and a minority did so for lower attainers only.

  • Differentiation was mostly by task set in English, mathematics and science. However, differentiation was more difficult in science with some teachers differentiating on the basis of anticipating a different outcome for the same task, except where the less able had to have an easier task.

  • Major problems in providing differentiation identified by principals, subject coordinators in schools, teachers and ELB staff were lack of time, limited human resources, pressure from other educational innovations and classroom management.

  • Board staff said teachers reported difficulty in drawing up schemes of work and developing supporting materials to cover the full range of pupil ability.

  • Teachers reported that they received no advice in school on grouping for differentiation although most principals and over half the subject coordinators said advice was given.

  • Principals and teachers had not received any in-service support specifically for differentiation in the last 3 years and found in-service training days to be only of moderate relevance to differentiation. In-school support was felt by most teachers to be of lasting value.
 

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